1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for processing image for determining a scene of an input image and processing the input image based on a result of scene determination, and also relates to an image processing apparatus and an imaging apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some of conventional image processing apparatuses determine a scene and a subject type of an input image, and perform image processing based on the determined scene (subject type).
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-259372 discusses an image output apparatus which determines whether an input image is a vivid color scene (subject) and outputs an image of a vivid color scene with a high resolution.
The above-mentioned conventional technique discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-259372 determines whether the input image is a vivid color scene according to whether the image includes more high-saturation pixels than a predetermined threshold value.
However, because of the human sense of color and the distribution of subjects in nature, each individual subject may or may not be vivid depending on the color output even with an identical saturation. Accordingly, there has been an issue that, when all colors are processed with a uniform saturation threshold value, a scene should not be vivid such as a scene in which grass throughout the screen, may be vivid.